Collecting and Reading for Godly Reformation in Mid-Seventeenth Century Worcestershire: Thomas Hall of Kings Norton and His Books.

Thomas Hall, the mid-seventeenth-century minister at Kings Norton, Worcestershire, was an avid collector and reader of books. The article explores the evidence provided by his surviving books and library lists to analyse how he acquired his books, what types of books he collected and how he categorized them. It then investigates the books themselves to establish his reading and commonplacing practices, making particular use of his copious underlinings and marginal annotations. This reveals an emphasis on practical outcomes for his reading: in equipping him to understand Scripture, advance his pastoral ministry and provide him with material for the polemical works in which he sought to refute the ideas of the heretical sects that emerged in the 1640s and 1650s and advance what he saw as the cause of true religion. Throughout he displays a strong belief in the power of books to promote the struggle for godly reformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]